At 22 months old Oakley has gotten the ultimate present, a kidney! His Oma Shalom was the donor and both of them are currently doing great and recovering. Shalom’s surgery went first, removing her kidney – and as she was coming out of sedation Oakley was going under and preparing to receive it. Both surgeries went great without any complications.
Shalom is back at home after a one-night admission. We know that on the 11th she didn’t just give her kidney to Oakley, but also a piece of her heart. She put hours and hours of time in driving, going to appointments, and educating herself on the process of being a donor and what life would look like after for her. She will have the battle wound for the rest of her life showing the sacrifice she made for our son. There aren’t words to express our gratitude, so we’ll just say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you mom.
As of today (4/17) Oakley is still recovering and being monitored closely at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. All tests and lab work indicate that his body is accepting the kidney, and he is doing excellent from a clinical standpoint. The past week has been heavily focused on managing his pain and making him as comfortable as possible. Each day he is needing less and less pain management, and getting more and more back to the happy, chatty, curious toddler that he is. We expect to be able to come home sometime this week.
To get to this point hasn’t been easy, there have been delays and setbacks, but we made it. We’ve been talking about a kidney transplant since before Oakley was even born, so now that we’ve actually achieved this milestone it feels a bit surreal.
We are thankful beyond words.
Much love, the Kwekel’s